NEW ORLEANS - It is wet again on Bellaire Drive in the Lakeview neighborhood of New Orleans.
It is where the levee breached during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, sending a raging current of flood water into the surrounding community. So, you can understand why any any sign of seepage along the 17th Street Canal is a major concern.
The Army Corps of Engineers recently put a 2-foot high layer of clay on top of the property along the canal.
Neighbor Roy Arrigo said it may have slowed the flow, but the water is still finding its way to the street.
"It seems around the perimeter, like this and this is one of the worst ones, that it stays damp and then there is some accumulation of water that just never dries out," Arrigo said.
Michael Palasch just built a house on 30th Street, a few blocks from the levee.
"I don't think pouring fill on top is a solution," Palasch. "I think it's really hiding the problem."
Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East Chief Administrative Officer Derek Boese agrees.
"There is still some additional work we believe the Corps still needs to do," Boese said. "We're talking to them about the best approach to do that."
The Army Corps of Engineers made more than $22 million in repairs to this levee after Katrina.
Water appears to be seeping though metal sheet piles installed below ground as part of the new flood wall.
The flood authority is now pushing the Corps to install subsurface drainage to collect the water.
Officials claim the problem more of a nuisance then a threat to the levee system.
"There's nothing in there to indicate there's any flow of sediment or any soil movement," Boese said. "It's simply just water working it's way through."
Neighbors will be watching for a permanent solution.
"There's no doubt about it, there is an issue and it needs to be dealt with," Palasch said.
The flood authority is hoping to get a better indication how the Army Corps plans to fix the problem at the authority's board meeting on November 29.